Find out how popular the last name Nester is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Nester.

Nester, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Nester surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nester in America

Nester is the 5903rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nester surname appeared 5,847 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Nester.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nester to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Nester

The surname Nester has its roots in Eastern Europe, particularly in areas that are now part of Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine. It is believed to have originated as an occupational name for a nest-maker or a person who collected bird nests for various purposes.

The word "Nester" is derived from the Slavic term "gniazdo," meaning "nest." This occupation was quite common in rural areas during the Middle Ages when bird nests were used for various purposes, including as a source of food and in traditional medicine.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nester can be found in the Metryka Litewska, a collection of historical documents from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, dating back to the 15th century. This suggests that the name had already become established in the region by that time.

In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the name Nester was Nester Malevich (c. 1530 - c. 1600), a prominent merchant and landowner from the city of Lviv, which was then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Another historical figure associated with the name Nester is Nester Kukolnik (1809 - 1868), a Russian dramatist and poet who wrote numerous plays and poems that reflected the social and political issues of his time.

The name Nester also appears in various place names throughout Eastern Europe, such as the village of Nesterov in Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast, which was likely named after a person with this surname.

It's worth noting that variations of the name, such as Nestorov, Nestorowicz, and Nestorovych, can also be found in historical records from the region.

Other notable individuals with the surname Nester include:

1. Nester Buchenevich (c. 1600 - c. 1670), a Belarusian noble and landowner.
2. Nester Toropov (1784 - 1858), a Russian painter and architect.
3. Nester Makhno (1888 - 1934), a Ukrainian revolutionary and anarchist leader.
4. Nester Shmelev (1936 - 2022), a Russian novelist and short story writer.
5. Nester Milenki (1955 - 2018), a Polish artist and sculptor.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nester

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Nester.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Nester was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Nester has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Nester was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Nester, please contact us.

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